2012 National Stages

[Mick Norris]

Alex, thanks for your excellent service and the recent updates.

Does anyone out there know the result of the U120 Division match between Hertfordshire and Lancashire? I think that's the only one that's still missing, even unofficially.

I haven't been told when and where they're playing, but it wouldn't surprise me if they were playing today. Lancashire U120 arranged their Quarter Final for a Sunday, so they might have done the same with their Semi.

Total guess on my part, though.

A total guess, and I was totally wrong! It was played yesterday.

Hertfordshire beat Lancashire 7.5-4.5.

So we have:
Open Surrey v Middlesex
Minor - Leics at home to Herts
U180 Yorks v Middlesex
U160 Yorks v G Man
U140 Herts v Lancs
U120 Herts v Essex
U100 Kent v Essex

Should help the debate about 1 neutral (sorry, central) venue for the finals

[David Sedgwick]

So a Surrey-Middlesex final. Cue David

I presume you're referring to me.

However, I've had my say previously and there's little I would wish to add at this point. I'm not a Surrey officer. It's up to the officers and match captains of the affected counties (that's not only Middlesex and Surrey, but also Essex, Hertfordshire and Kent) to confer with each other and decide what action, if any, they now wish to take. Some such consultation has already taken place.

I have arranged for the whole subject to be considered anew at the SCCU Annual Council Meeting on Saturday 14th July, a week after the Finals.

[Alex Holowczak]

So a Surrey-Middlesex final. Cue David

I presume you're referring to me.

However, I've had my say previously and there's little I would wish to add at this point. I'm not a Surrey officer. It's up to the officers and match captains of the affected counties (that's not only Middlesex and Surrey, but also Essex, Hertfordshire and Kent) to confer with each other and decide what action, if any, they now wish to take. Some such consultation has already taken place.

I have arranged for the whole subject to be considered anew at the SCCU Annual Council Meeting on Saturday 14th July, a week after the Finals.

For what it's worth, I can confirm that the Middlesex Open team want to play in Leicester, and do not want to entertain the idea of playing elsewhere.

[Mick Norris]

Duplicate scoresheets to be used on all boards of all sections of the Final. There will be 5 staff on site at Finals Day itself, two of which are arbiters, two of which are games inputters who can do a bit of arbiting at time scrambles, and myself who will be putting results in the computer (and online) and games-inputting the rest of the time. We'll prioritise the higher sections with the inputting, but 104 games between 2.5 of us shouldn't be too bad.

I'm in the process of finding out whether the live boards are available to broadcast the Open section. We have a mug willing to come down and set them up if they're available. Clearly if we can get 16 live boards working, that'll reduce the inputting burden!

Alex

Who are the "lucky" 5 on site on Finals Day?

[Sean Hewitt]

Duplicate scoresheets to be used on all boards of all sections of the Final. There will be 5 staff on site at Finals Day itself, two of which are arbiters, two of which are games inputters who can do a bit of arbiting at time scrambles, and myself who will be putting results in the computer (and online) and games-inputting the rest of the time. We'll prioritise the higher sections with the inputting, but 104 games between 2.5 of us shouldn't be too bad.

I'm in the process of finding out whether the live boards are available to broadcast the Open section. We have a mug willing to come down and set them up if they're available. Clearly if we can get 16 live boards working, that'll reduce the inputting burden!

Alex

Who are the "lucky" 5 on site on Finals Day?

I'm not sure who the other 5 are, but I am the mug!

[Alex Holowczak]

Alex

Who are the "lucky" 5 on site on Finals Day?

(1) Alex Holowczak as Organiser cum Games Inputter
(2) Dave Welch as Chief Arbiter
(3) Adrian Elwin as Deputy Arbiter
(4) Matthew Carr as Games-Inputter cum Arbiter
(5) To be confirmed

[Richard Haddrell]

I see that one semi-final result (U120 Herts v Lancs) is still absent from the ECF website. For those wishing to complete the set, it has been on the SCCU site for a couple of days now. I think Alex is withholding matches till satisfied with their format. The SCCU is less fussy.

[Alex Holowczak]

I see that one semi-final result (U120 Herts v Lancs) is still absent from the ECF website. For those wishing to complete the set, it has been on the SCCU site for a couple of days now. I think Alex is withholding matches till satisfied with their format. The SCCU is less fussy.

Correct.

If I start putting it in the correct format for some and not for others, then I'll end up doing it for everyone, and I'm not prepared to do that.

Furthermore, I simply don't have the time to do it. I'm currently wading through 4NCL Div 3 games, a task made difficult because I left my mouse at home...

[Andrew Bak]

A report Yorkshire's U160 triumph, including full results and pictures can be found here.

[Alex Holowczak]

I can announce that the fifth member of staff will be John Shaw, who has been at County Finals in previous years.

I can confirm that the Open Final between Surrey and Middlesex will be played on live boards.